Device for indicating the condition of valves.



J. A. COLE. DEVICE FOB INDIGATING 'THE GONDETION OF VALVES.

APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 23, 1903.

Patented May 18, 1909.

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m @150% M j JOHN A. COLE, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DEVICE FOR INDICTNG THE GONBI'EON Gl? VALVES.

No. 921,675. i

Application filed November 23, 1903.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it hnown that l, JOHN n.. COLE, a citizen oil the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State o'l' Illinois, .have invented a certain new and useful linproveinent in Devices for lndicating the Condition ol' Valves, oil which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, 'lorinino a part ot' this specification.

My invention relates to nieans for indicating whether stop valves in Water or gas niains orrsiufilar pipes are open or shut.

Proninent objects of the invention are to provide a sin'eple and practical manuallyoperable device oi this hind; to arrange 'for the easy and ready operation ol' the saaie so as to indicate a change in the condition otl the valve 5 to render practically inpossible tarnh pering with the device by boys and other persons not having a right to nanipulate it; and to aeconplish the foregoing in a siinple and expeditious nanner.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure I is a vertical section of a Water or gas niain having a valve inclosed in a manhole, and a device embodying niy invention Yfor indicating the condition oll the valve; Fig. 2 is a siinilar view oi a inodiiied lorrn of indicating device Fig. 3 is a side view of the indicating device showing a part thereoll in section 3 and Fig. 4 is a iront View oi' the saine.

Referring first to Figs. l, 3 and a, A repre sents a pipe which can be either a gas or Water in ain, or any other sin'iilar pipe, having a valve l controlled by a plug 2, rl`he pipe A extends through the lov/er portion oll a nianhole box B which is provided With a cover 3. rlhese parts are ot' any usual construction such as eniployed in inunicipal Water or gas systenis and elsewhere.

rlhe device Which I slionT herein `for indicating Whether or not the valve 1 is open or closed, coniprises an eye-bolt 4, a bolt 5 passing through the eye oi' the eye-bolt l, plates 6 and 7 on said bolt 5, and nuts 8 and 9 also on said bolt 5 on opposite sides oll the plate 7 the head ol' the bolt 5, and the nut 9 being desirably pentagonal. rllhe bolt 5 is held loosely by the eye-bolt 4 so that it is free to turn in theeyethereof. The nuts 8 and 9 are arranged to hold the plate 7 loosely between thern. The plate 6 has its end desirably provided With a nuniber Which is the number assigned to the valve the device is Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1s, 1909.

serial no. 182,311.

f to indicate. rlie plate 7 has on one l'ace the Word Open and on the opposite 'lace shows the Word Shut, rlhus in the arrangement shown one olI said Words Will be exposed by reason of the plate being so arranged as to cause it to lace outwardly and the other word will not be exposed by being on the inner side and being to seine extent concealed by the plate 5. rihe nuineral on the lower end ol' the plate 6 will be seen below the plate 7. rl"hus when the valve l in the pipe il is open the plate 7 will be so arranged on the bolt 5 as to expose the Word open, this plate being so arranged in the drawing. lvhen the valve i is closed the plate 7 will be alien i'roni the bolt 5 and its faces reversed, and replaced thereon so that the word shut7 will be exposed. The plate 6 will not be disturbed by this change. ln

this Way the condition of the valve will be indicated, and at the saine tiere its nuf'iber Will always appear. i iis manipulation ol' the device to indicate the changed condition in the valve, Will be done by a Worlnnan or en'iployee connected with the system, who opens the iiianhole to Ynlanipulate the valve, and Whenever he does so he manipulates the indicating device to correspond with the change in the condition oi the valve. It is obvious that the indicating device will rein ain in the condition to Which it is adjusted, so long as it is lei't untouched. illhen however an operator or e rployee changes the condition of the valve, he will also change the indicator to correspond and it will reinain an accurate index ol' conditions until the valve is again changed.

Tanipering with the indicator is made diiicult and practically impossible by its arrangement and construction. Obviously no one Will tamper With it Without opening the nianhole and this is a thing that is very seldoni done by any except authorized persons. Should the inanhole be opened however, the device cannot be tainpered With Without two box Wrenches, one to be applied to the nut 9 and the other to the head oic the 1oolt 5, it being seen that a single wrench Will not avail because when applied to either said nut or the hea-d of said bolt, the bolt will rotate bccause of its loose mounting, and thus baille any effort to unscreW the parts. As sinall boys and others having no right or purpose in changing the device, Would not ordinarily be equipped with tivo such wrenches, they Would not be able to manipulate the device.

The action of the elements on the device would not have an injurious eff ect, for if the parts should rust it would only make the nut 9 more difficult to remove and therefore present a greater obstacle to tampering by unauthorized persons. l

1n Fig. 2 1 have shown the eye-bolt 4 inserted into the side of the manhole B instead of into the cover, and the other parts arranged so that the plate 7 is above the eyebolt. 1n this way the result attainedv is substantially the same, the device being attached to the body of the manhole instead of to its top.

1twill be seen that my invention contemplates a manually operable index or indicator which is to be operated by an employee or other authorized person of the system on which it is used, in contradistinction to an automatic indicating device which is set automatically by a change in the condition of the valve. Such a separate manually operable device having no connection with the valve itself, can be added to each valve of a Water works or gas system at but slight expense, as it Will not be necessary to change any of the valves, or equip the system with new ones. 1t will also be seen that each valve Whose condition is indicated, is identified, thus preventing confusion and mistake where several valves are vlocated together.

The form of device which is herein set forth is only one of a vast number of forms and arrangements which can easily be devised to carry out the underlying principle of the invention. 1t will therefore be understood that I do not wish to limit myself either to the form of device which is herein set forth, nor to the manner of associating it with the valve whose condition is to be indicated.

l/Vbat I claim as my invention is zl. The combination of a manhole and an indicating device, comprising a. reversible plate bearing characters indicating different conditions of the valve, the different characters being exposed when the plate is in reversed positions, means whereby the plate can be reversed, and means for mounting said device in the manhole box.

2. The combination of a manhole and an indicating device, comprising a reversible indicating member bearing differentinscriptions to indicate different conditions of. the valve, means whereby said member can be reversed, and means for mounting said device in the manhole box.

3. The combination of a manhole box, of an indicating device for indicating the condition of a valve in the box, said device being aseparate entity capable of bodily insertion in and removal from the manhole box, and having noy operable connection with the valve, and having provisions for indicating different conditions of the valve capable of manual manipulation independent of the same.

4. The combination with a manhole for a pipe valve, of a device for indicating the condition of the valve, said device comprising a plate bearing on opposite sides inscriptions or characters to indicate different conditions of the valve, and means for hanging said plate upon some part of the manhole structure, so as to permit the reversal of the plate to expose either side, as desired.

5. The combination of a manhole for a pipe valve, anindicating device attached to some part of the manhole structure, said indicating device comprising a plate provided on opposite sides With different Words or characters indicating different conditions of the valve, a bolt carrying said plate, nuts for detachably securing the plate to said bolt, and a screw-threaded eye-bolt in which the aforesaid bolt is loosely mounted, said eyebolt being inserted into the manhole structure.

6. The combination of a manhole, and an indicating device, comprising a plate bearing on opposite sides Words indicating different conditions of the valve, a bolt carrying and passing through the plate, said bolt being provided with nuts to hold the plate temporarily in position, and an eye-bolt loosely supporting said bolt, and adapted for attachnient to the manhole.

7. The combination of a manhole and an indicating device comprising an eye-bolt 4 attached to the manhole structure, a bolt 5 loosely mounted in said eyebolt 4, plates 6 and 7 mounted on said bolt 5, the plate 6 being numbered, and the plate 7 being provided on opposite sides with words to indicate the condition of the valve, and nuts 8 and 9 on opposite sides of the plate 7.

8. The combination of a manhole for a pipe valve, and an indicator arrangedin and attached to the manhole, said indicator comprising a plate having different words on its opposite sides to indicate diiferent conditions of the valve, al bolt on which said plate is removably secured, a second plate carried by said bolt in the rear of the first mentioned plate and having numerals located below saidiirst mentioned plate, whereby the first mentioned plate can be removed and reversed to indicate the condition of the valve, and also whereby the numeral on the second mentioned plate will always be exposed.

Inv witness whereof, l hereunto subscribe my name this 13th day of Novemebr A. D1, 1903.

JOHN A. COLE.

Witnesses:

A. MILLER BELFIELD, I.. C. LEE. 

